Thursday, September 11, 2014

Is a Leap of Faith a Quantum Leap?

During my meeting with Dr.
Mitch Kamrava, in the Radiology Department of UCLA, a few weeks
back, I got to look at the MRI of my bladder and saw the two
locations of the cancer, which looked smaller – or let's say less
differentiated than I had expected. It is an art to read these
files and usually there is – for the hard to interpret cases – an
expert in every hospital, whose years of experience allow him to see
if there is anything wrong. So we have to trust the expert, but in fact -- there was no large tumor clearly visible. Nevertheless
– the standard treatment is a radical cystectomy – with a highly
probable protective round of chemo and radiation after surgery.

Now, I am over a month
into my cannabis therapy, and have ramped myself up to a gram a day.
(Ca. 50/50 – THC/CBD) Before I commit myself to
a life with a colostomy bag, recurring infections, and a fairly
possible death from complications during surgery, I would like to
have one last try with cannabis oil -- which sounds a lot more
desperate than it is! In this blog I have been
trying to debunk a lot of myths about cancer cures, but also found
credible information with many good reasons to believe that cannabis
does kill cancer – we just don't quite know exactly how! According to the current
theory, cannabinoids regulate and modulate the central nervous system
and the immune system. Cancer cells have an abundance of CB1 and CB2
receptor-sites, which, when loaded with cannabinoids, commit
metabolic suicide. A study by GW
Pharmaceuticals in the UK mentions the dosage of cannabis oil as the
possibly most important variable to determine if cannabis kills –
or promotes cancer. Back to my meeting at
UCLA: I was prepared like a
lawyer fighting a death-penalty case – all the studies, the
statistics were ready to roll over any bladder-amputating argument.
But not so!
My doctors are much
smarter than me!
Dr. Kamrava suggested that
we wait two months for another biopsy, because that's enough time to
see if the cannabis works, but not enough time to pass a point of no
return. (I'm not suicidal!) So instead of fighting
some narrow-minded expert, I was listened to, and we worked on a
solution which would not put me at risk unnecessarily. I was elated!
When I left the Radiation
Department I felt more optimistic than I had for a long time. It is
good to know I am not alone in this!

Of course I'm coming with
a lot of questions: How does one take it? Four times daily – a
quarter gram? Or once daily – a whole gram (at night)? Is it better
to peak with large amounts of cannabinoids all at once, or is it
better to take small amounts regularly to acquire a stable level of
saturation? Or: CBD in the morning -- THC at night?

Also: Eat it with food –
or put it into a capsule to slow down the process of absorption? And what would be a
maintenance dose? These questions don't necessarily have an answer
yet, and since a patient is regarded as cured only after five years –
we will have to wait before we can holler victory from the rooftops. Now back on earth we have
the very real problem where to get the precious oil? After all –
even though it is legal in California – there are no rules and
regulations determining quality, strength, and purity. The internet
is full of tutorials on how to make your own oil, which gives you
complete control over the product, but you also might blow up your
house.
I am incredibly lucky to
have WAMM (Wo/men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana) in Santa Cruz
supply me with the oil. Not only do they have the longest
track-record in growing medical marijuana, they also have a very
precise quality control. A fact that should not be underestimated! (That's what's so nice
about pharmaceutical drugs – you always know exactly what dosage
you are playing with.)
I was taking a daily gram
of a THC/CBD-mix approximately 50/50. When through some unpredictable
circumstances the mail failed to deliver – I had still enough for a couple more
days, always hoping it would arrive the next day. I ran out Saturday –
and Monday was a holiday. I would have to stop and then ramp up again. As
unpleasant as it was – I decided to turn it into a test, to find
out what happens, when you go from a gram of oil down to 0.001 gram
within a day. My previous experience with “marijuana-withdrawal”
was a certain irritability in the evening, which would lead to a frantic
five minute search of the apartment in case there might be a
forgotten joint or something... and that was about the extent of the
marijuana withdrawal. This is, of course, a
little different in the size category! And it wasn't exactly
enjoyable! I realized now how a certain harmony between the organs
had installed itself, but now had no cannabinoids with which to regulate and
modulate the endocannabinoids, and consequently every part of my body suddenly
developed it's unique problem, and one organ after the other,
including muscles and bones, fell out of sync. This goes along with my
theory of how organs communicate with each other – I regard each
organ as a self-regulating loop, made out of smaller
self-regulating loops, which again are made of smaller self-regulating loops
– down to the submolecular [cellular?] level. These self-regulating feedback loops
are being fed with cannabinoids until they start humming happily.
Then there is no more room for dysfunctional cancer-cells, and they
die. Just a thought... I will have to add that it
was very hot – California August heat – which didn’t help!
Strangely the only part of my body that remained painless was my
head. And I could not resist to take fairly small doses of vicodin to
deal with the acute pain of the urethritis. I was miserable – no
doubt about that. Wednesday the mail came! Right away I took a
quarter gram – and could not believe what was happening. Within 30
minutes almost all the pain had disappeared -- it was a “take up
your bed and walk”, said Jesus moment. Two days later I have
ramped myself up to a daily gram again, and after the euphoria of
this pain-free moment had disappeared – it turned into a whole
different experience! Like the cannabinoids introduced a standard, by
which all bio-chemical processes in the body would be regulated, and
this standard helps to synchronize complex processes, far too advanced
for my comprehension. After taking the cannabis
oil for a while there comes a moment of saturation – when it feels like
all the water of my body, including the water between the cells, is
loaded with cannabis.
I can smell and taste it!
I'm drenched, it is penetrating every cell in my body. (This seems not to be an
unusual sensation, because eating garlic or onions, or receiving
chemo therapy – has a similar effect – I can smell it in my
sweat.) Now I've relatively well
adjusted to the large amount of cannabinoids – finishing this blog
is proof that I'm capable to think of more things than three -- at the
same time!

1 comment:

Chronic Urethritis Treatment includes antibiotics or other medications to kill the infection. Sex partners should be treated as well. It is imperative to refraining from sexual activity until the treatment is completed because infections can remain active even after your symptoms have disappeared.